August 2, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
Progress of Agriculture 
By Sir Herbert Matthews 
19 
Ploughing Four Furrows with the Overtime" Tractor 
J. Sewman, Berkhampstead 
IT has become a mere platitude to say that the war is 
causing a national revolution, but like most platitudes 
it is an exaggeration. In the science of agriculture 
it has introduced the germs of a revolution, but at 
present the effect is usually more in the minds of agri- 
culturists than in their general practice. It is true that a 
considerable number of men have already availed them- 
selves of such help as they can get from motor ploughs, farm 
tractors, milking machines, and other labour-saving devices, 
but they arc mostly the more enlightened men, who are 
always on the look-out for improvements. \\ hat is more 
promising, however, is that a much larger number (jf culti- 
vators have, or are rapidly, divesting their minds of the old 
deeply-rooted prejudices against all innovations. The man 
who. four years ago, would have said : "No motor ploughs 
for me ; they may possibly do some sort of work under 
certain conditions, and on some soils of which I know nothing, 
but they are no use on my sort of land," is now, perhaps, 
against his will, but more or less inevitably, coming to the 
conclusion that he must give them a trial. Those who under- 
stand the psychology of the British farmer will realise what an 
im mense advance this means. 
We have not reached this point without a curious interplay 
of many forces, as to which perhaps a few words may be of 
interest. After the refusal of the late Government to take 
any notice of the recommendations of Lord Milner's Com- 
mittee, there was a long interval of nearly eighteen months 
during which no authoritative body took any action having 
as its object an increase in the supply of home-grown food. 
True, the Departmental Committee on the Settlement of 
cx-Service Men, dealt incidentally with the subject, and the 
Central Chamber of Agriculture on several occasions called 
attention to the need of a Government policy which would 
lessen our dependence on sea-borne traffic, and encourage 
home production by giving a feeling of security to producers. 
But they were looked upon as interested parties, and con- 
sequently not worth notice. 
About the end of October, 1916, however, owing to various 
causes, and to a sudden epidemic which attacked the Govern- 
ment, and which took the form of creating a whole crop of 
new Ministers, a change took place. Having created the new 
Departments they had to be made to justify their existence. 
Among them was the Food Production Department, who at 
once became obsessed with the idea of three million more 
acres of arable land. It was no new idea to several hundreds 
of people who had studied the question for many years, but 
it was new to them, and had all the charm of novelty. It 
dominated everything else. Three million acres must be 
ploughed up, and it must be done at once : the serious 
shortage of men, horses and implements did not matter, nor 
did the necessity of subsequent cultivation cause any hesita- 
tion. There were so many counties in the country ; they had 
each so many acres of grass and so many of arable ; a simple 
sum in arithmetic settled how many acres each county must 
break up. What could be easier ? The Defence of the Realm 
Act gave the necessary powers ; it only needed working out 
on paper. 
But as soon as the official programme was complete, the 
practical difficulties could be no longer ignored. So motor 
ploughs were promised, and eventually sent out. Men were 
frequently sent with them, but unfortunately they were, 
as a rule, expert with neither motors nor ploughs, with the 
result that not seldom a farmer has been turned from a 
convert to a pervert ; or to one who will use a motor because 
he must, not because he likes it. This is much to be deplored, 
first because a perverted man is much harder to reconvert 
than he was originally ; secondly, because inexperienced 
drivers do not look after their implements as they need 
looking after, nor do they teach their (possibly) unwilling 
pupils how to care for them ; and thirdly, because work that 
is not well done does not tend to good crops. On the other 
hand, wherever the farmer or the driver happened to be an 
enthusiast they did good work, even if lack of experience 
caused extra trouble. Fortunately a number of such en- 
thusiasts were found to exist. Every such instance has been 
and is, an educational centre which will help to overcome 
prejudice. 
Now that the official mind has realised that three mill on 
acres cannot be broken up by a stroke of the pen, and that 
such land as is broken needs a great deal of cultivation, motor 
power will be turned to other work besides ploughing, and is 
therefore likely rapidly to increase the number of supporters. 
Especially will this be the case if discrimination be made in 
the selection of drivers : and as more experienced drivers have 
become available such selection is now possible. Probably 
no other side of farming has shown such a rapid development 
as the motor tractor, but as this form of power can be applied 
to so many operations it is only what might have been expected. 
A considerable change is coming over the dairy world in 
the form of milking machines. Milk producers found the 
labour question a constant trouble for some years before the 
war : the necessity for constant attendance twice a day,. 
Sundays as well as week days, made it continuously more 
difficult to find milkers. When something well over a quarter 
of a miUion of men answered the call to the colours, dairy 
farmers were at their wits' end and though matters have 
been to some extent adjusted, partly through the patriotic 
action of women, who pluckily came to the rescue, it cannot 
be expected that these women will continue in any numbers ■ 
when the call of patriotism ends with the war. while uianj 
